To increase proficiency at the sport of basketball, players must spend significant time practicing various skills. One of the most important skills is shooting, which requires releasing the ball with an appropriate arc and follow-through in the proper direction. Other important skills include different types of passing and ball handling techniques. Each of these skills requires concentration, eye-hand coordination, and proper form and technique, all of which can be improved through repetition and practice.
Often, it is desirable for a basketball player to practice with other players, coaches or persons who can provide guidance and facilitate various practice scenarios. For example, a coach can provide guidance and feedback to a shooter regarding the arc and follow-through for various types of shots, such as free throws, jump shots and low post shots. Likewise, a coach or other person can help a player practice various passing and ball-handling techniques in various ways, for example, by simulating a defender or an obstruction that the practicing player must avoid.
In many instances, however, there may not be a sufficient number of other players, coaches or other persons available to provide the desired guidance or to facilitate the desired practice scenarios. Existing solutions have been devised, but none provide all of the advantages of the invention disclosed herein. For example, cones or similar objects can be placed at various locations to indicate the location of defenders, and objects such as chairs and ladders can be used as larger obstacles to shoot over or pass around. These objects, however, often are inadequate to simulate many desirable practice conditions and scenarios and do not provide the player with guidance or feedback regarding technique. A need therefore exists for a basketball training apparatus that can be used more independently by a practicing player as shown and described herein.